On April 17, 2008, John Meyer and Timothy O’Connor made a presentation to the Corporate Law Departments Committee of the Chicago Bar Association entitled: “Section 230 Of the Communications Decency Act And The Risk To Business: Employer Liability For Employee Misuse Of The Internet.”
The presentation addressed section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. sec. 230), which, among other things, protects businesses that either provide internet services or whose employees use internet services. Section 230 bars any effort to treat providers and users of interactive computer services as either the speaker or publisher of content provided by a third party. Section 230 also provides immunity to such entities for efforts to restrict access to offensive material or provide others with the means to restrict such access. At least one court has interpreted section 230 to provide an employer with broad immunity for actions of employees involving the internet. Other courts have interpreted section 230 more narrowly. Meyer & O’Connor, LLC’s presentation offered a timely look at the current state of the law with respect to section 230, with special focus on recent decisions, including the Seventh Circuit’s recent opinion in the Craigslist litigation and the Ninth circuit’s en banc opinion in the Roommates.com litigation. In addition to reviewing the state of the law with respect to section 230, the presentation also addressed how the law with respect to section 230 likely will evolve in the future.